lazy ('lA-zE adj.)- averse or disinclined to work

January 21, 2008

Besides the famous I Have a Dream speech, this is our favorite speech by MLK. We came across it while doing a study on him a couple of years ago.

What Is Your Life's Blueprint?Six months before he was assassinated, King spoke to a group of students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia on October 26, 1967.

I want to ask you a question, and that is: What is your life's blueprint?

Whenever a building is constructed, you usually have an architect who draws a blueprint, and that blueprint serves as the pattern, as the guide, and a building is not well erected without a good, solid blueprint.

Now each of you is in the process of building the structure of your lives, and the question is whether you have a proper, a solid and a sound blueprint.

I want to suggest some of the things that should begin your life's blueprint. Number one in your life's blueprint, should be a deep belief in your own dignity, your worth and your own somebodiness. Don't allow anybody to make you fell that you're nobody. Always feel that you count. Always feel that you have worth, and always feel that your life has ultimate significance.

Secondly, in your life's blueprint you must have as the basic principle the determination to achieve excellence in your various fields of endeavor. You're going to be deciding as the days, as the years unfold what you will do in life — what your life's work will be. Set out to do it well.

And I say to you, my young friends, doors are opening to you--doors of opportunities that were not open to your mothers and your fathers — and the great challenge facing you is to be ready to face these doors as they open.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great essayist, said in a lecture in 1871, "If a man can write a better book or preach a better sermon or make a better mousetrap than his neighbor, even if he builds his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door."

This hasn't always been true — but it will become increasingly true, and so I would urge you to study hard, to burn the midnight oil; I would say to you, don't drop out of school. I understand all the sociological reasons, but I urge you that in spite of your economic plight, in spite of the situation that you're forced to live in — stay in school.

And when you discover what you will be in your life, set out to do it as if God Almighty called you at this particular moment in history to do it. don't just set out to do a good job. Set out to do such a good job that the living, the dead or the unborn couldn't do it any better.

If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well. If you can't be a pine at the top of the hill, be a shrub in the valley. Be be the best little shrub on the side of the hill.

Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If you can't be a highway, just be a trail. If you can't be a sun, be a star. For it isn't by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.

September 07, 2007

September 02, 2007

Jared and Jacie tested for their Deputy Black belt on August 24th. They did great! This belt level is a really big deal and we are very proud of both of them!

Quick Tae Kwon Do (TKD) lesson: Deputy Black Belt is the rank immediately before Black Belt. They are required to be Deputy Black Belts for at least 6 months and to have a certain amount of leadership classes(where they help lead a lower belt class once a week-they started doing this as red belts) before they can test for their black belts.

(The quality of these videos is really not very good but it's the best we can do with the technology we have...hey, it's better than nothin', right? The video clips all start and end rather abruptly and you can ingnore the list of "related videos" that pops up after the clip is done playing because they aren't from us, they are just other videos on You Tube.)

Okay let's get this started:

The first part of the test is their "Poomse" (pronounced: poom-say) (or Form). Each higher belt rank has a more difficult poomse with more steps. They are always required to first do the previous belt test poomse before they are tested on the current poomse. You'll see both of the kids do both of the poomses here:

The second part of the test is "One Step Self Defense". They have 6 "One Steps" they perform against an "attacker" This would be a good time to tell you that ALEX was the camera operator, not me ;)

The next part of the test is sparring. This is not just a free for all fight-fest. They must do certain combinations and number of techniques, and do them properly, to get a point. Here Jared spars Drew:

When you spar you are always, always, matched up with someone close to your size, skill and belt rank. You see how Jared and Drew are pretty much the same size and it looked like a pretty even match. The same thing is true for Jacie and her sparring opponent...

Well okay it's not really the same thing with Jacie but there aren't any other tiny children her level to spar against so she almost always spars an instructor. It's a shame they don't enjoy Jacie at this school ;)

Next is board breaking. This is done at every belt level with progressively harder breaking techniques required. Sometimes it takes more than one try, no biggie

And sometimes it only takes one try!

The last part of this test is endurance. This only done at the higher belt levels. They have to do these kicks and follow it up very quickly with their first two forms they learned over 2 years ago:

Here they are receiving their new deputy black belts from Dr. King (she is in the blue) and Master King!

So while the guys rode the roller coaster she drug me to a harmless "hot air" balloon ride. The balloons went up, of course, but that is not all. They also went around.

And around.

Faster and faster. Higher and Higher.

Until the world was nothing but a blur. Good thing I didn't eat before this ride!

After I got over the motion sickness we caught up with the boys. And we had lots more fun. But there aren't anymore pictures because my camera batteries died. You'll just have to take my word for it that there was lots of good times!

Here is our one family shot:

Someone is missing.

Hmm, still not right.

Close enough.

More summer fun photos coming in the next couple of days so be sure to come back!

August 04, 2007

Yep, that's right. I am just too lazy to scrapbook. And really, scrapbooking is soooo 1999! The new way to record your kids' life is on a blog. Everyone is doing it! And I know some of you might wonder about privacy.

You will say: "But, you are putting pictures of your kids on the internet! For the whole world to see! Are you crazy? What if some weird internet person sees them?"

I hear ya and all I can say is that I won't give out our address, telephone number, or anything at all personal. And I'll keep their heads covered with a paper bag when we go out in public. Not really.

Do me a favor, would ya? Leave a comment and let me know how the place looks and if you can see the pictures. Just click on the "comments" link right below this post and type in the comment box. You don't even have to leave your email address which is why I chose typepad instead of blogger, it's much easier for the commentor. It's all about you, people!